Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T02:00:43.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 5 - Alzheimer’s Disease

from Section 2 - Diagnosing Different Types of Dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2024

Simon Gerhand
Simon Gerhand
Affiliation:
Hywel Dda Health Board, NHS Wales
Get access

Summary

This chapter looks at Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia. Incidence and prevalence figures are reviewed, along with an explanation of the two abnormal proteins involved in the development of the disorder, and the ‘amyloid cascade’ hypothesis. Cognitive assessment of Alzheimer’s disease is considered in terms of where this fits within the diagnostic process and diagnostic criteria. The bulk of the chapter focuses on the typical form of Alzheimer’s disease, and the chapter concludes with discussion of some atypical variants, such as posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), logopenic primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA), and frontal variant.

Keywords

Alzheimer’sdementiaamyloidtaumemoryamnesiadiagnosiscognitionassessment
Type
Chapter
Information
The Neuropsychology of Dementia
A Clinician's Manual
 , pp. 59 - 73
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aisen, P. S., Cummings, J., Jack, C. R., et al. (2017). On the path to 2025: Understanding the Alzheimer’s disease continuum. Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, 9 (1), 1–10.Google ScholarPubMed
Alzheimer, A. (1907). Uber eine eigenaritage, schweren Erkrankung der Hirnrinde. Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie und phychish-Gerichtliche Medizin (Berlin), 25, 1134.Google Scholar
Alzheimer Association (2022). Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures. Chicago, Illinois. Alzheimer Association, retrieved from Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures. www.alz.org/media/Documents/2022-Facts-and-Figures-Report_1.pdf.Google Scholar
Alzheimer’s Society (2020). Can genes cause dementia? www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/risk-factors-and-prevention/alzheimers-disease-and-genes.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Arnaiz, E., & Almkvist, O. (2003). Neuropsychological features of mild cognitive impairment and preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 107, 4–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bäckman, L., Jones, S., Berger, A. K., Laukka, E. J., & Small, B. J. (2005). Cognitive impairment in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease: A meta-analysis. Neuropsychology, 19(4), 520–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bellenguez, C., Grenier-Boley, B., & Lambert, J. C. (2020). Genetics of Alzheimer’s disease: Where we are, and where we are going. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 61, 40–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bennett, D. A., Schneider, J. A., Arvanitakis, Z., et al. (2006). Neuropathology of older persons without cognitive impairment from two community-based studies. Neurology, 66 (12), 1837–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Besser, L. M., Teylan, M. A., & Nelson, P. T. (2020). Limbic predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE): clinical and neuropathological associations. Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, 79 (3), 305–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bove, R., Secor, E., Chibnik, L. B., et al. (2014). Age at surgical menopause influences cognitive decline and Alzheimer pathology in older women. Neurology, 82 (3), 222–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brenowitz, W. D., Hubbard, R. A., Keene, C. D., et al. (2017). Mixed neuropathologies and estimated rates of clinical progression in a large autopsy sample. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 13 (6), 654–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braak, H., & Braak, E. (1996). Evolution of the neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 94(S165), 3–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braak, H., Thal, D. R., Ghebremedhin, E., & Del Tredici, K. (2011). Stages of the pathologic process in Alzheimer disease: age categories from 1 to 100 years. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 70 (11), 960–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brion, J. P., Passareiro, H., Nunez, J., Flament-Durand, J. (1985). Mise en évidence immunologique de la protéine tau au niveau des lésions de dégénérescence neurofibrillaire de la maladie d’Alzheimer. Arch Biol (Bruxelles), 95, 229–35.Google Scholar
Cacace, R., Sleegers, K., & Van Broeckhoven, C. (2016). Molecular gee tics of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease revisited. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 12 (6), 733–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlesimo, G. A., & Oscar-Berman, M. (1992). Memory deficits in Alzheimer’s patients: A comprehensive review. Neuropsychology Review, 3 (2), 119–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crutch, S. J., Schott, J. M., Rabinovici, G. D., et al. (2017). Consensus classification of posterior cortical atrophy. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, 13 (8), 870–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cummings, J. L., & Benson, D. F. (1992). Dementia: A Clinical Approach. Boston: Butterworth-Heineman.Google Scholar
Da Cunha, E., Plonka, A., Arslan, S., et al. (2022). Logogenic primary progressive aphasia or Alzheimer Disease: Contribution of acoustic markers in early differential diagnosis. Life, 12 (7), 933.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delis, D. C., Kramer, J. H., Kaplan, E., & Ober, B. A. (2000). California Verbal Learning Test-second edition: Adult version manual. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
De Reuck, J., Maurage, C. A., Deramecourt, V., et al. (2018). Aging and cerebrovascular lesions in pure and in mixed neurodegenerative and vascular dementia brains: A neuropathological study. Folia Neuropathologica, 56 (2), 81–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dickson, D. W., Davies, P., Bevona, C., et al. (1994). Hippocampal sclerosis: A common pathological feature of dementia in very old (4 or =80 years of age) humans. Acta Neuropathologica, 88, 212–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubois, B., Villain, N., Frisoni, G. B., et al. (2021). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease: recommendations of the International Working Group. The Lancet Neurology, 20(6), 484–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duchek, J. M., Cheney, M., Ferraro, F. R., & Storandt, M. (1991). Paired associate learning in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Archives of neurology, 48 (10),1038–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Enwefa, S., & Enwefa, R. (2018). Confrontation naming errors of Alzheimer’s disease patients. Online Journal of Neurology and Brain Disorders, http://dx.doi.org/10.32474/OJNBD.2018.01.000117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, N. C., & Schott, J. M. (2004). Imaging cerebral atrophy: Normal ageing to Alzheimer’s disease. The Lancet, 363, 392–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gao, S., Burney, H. N., Callahan, C. M., Purnell, C. E., & Hendrie, H. C. (2019). Incidence of dementia and Alzheimer disease over time: A meta-analysis. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 67 (7), 1361–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glenner, G. G., Wong, C. W., Quaranta, V., & Eanes, E. D. (1984). The amyloid deposits in Alzheimer’s disease: Their nature and pathogenesis. Applied Pathology, 2 (6), 357–69.Google Scholar
Gorno‐Tempini, M. L., Dronkers, N. F., Rankin, K. P., et al. (2004). Cognition and anatomy in three variants of primary progressive aphasia. Annals of Neurology: Official Journal of the American Neurological Association and the Child Neurology Society, 55 (3), 335–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gorno-Tempini, M. L., Hillis, A. E., Weintraub, S., et al. (2011). Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology, 76 (11), 1006–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gumus, M., Multani, N., Mack, M. L., Tartaglia, M. C., & Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (2021). Progression of neuropsychiatric symptoms in young-onset versus late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. GeroScience, 43 (1), 213–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hardy, J. A., & Higgins, G. A. (1992). Alzheimer’s disease: The amyloid cascade hypothesis. Science, 256 (5054), 184–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henderson, V. W., & Sherwin, B. (2007). Surgical versus natural menopause. Menopause, 14 (3), 572–9.Google ScholarPubMed
Henry, J. D., Crawford, J. R., & Phillips, L. H. (2004). Verbal fluency performance in dementia of the Alzheimer’s type: a meta-analysis. Neuropsychologia, 42 (9), 1212–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herrup, K. (2015). The case for rejecting the amyloid cascade hypothesis. Nature Neuroscience, 18 (6), 794–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hicks, E. B., Ahsan, N., Bhandari, A., et al. (2021). Associations of visual paired associative learning task with global cognition and its potential usefulness as a screening tool for Alzheimer’s dementia. International Psychogeriatrics, 33 (11), 1135–44.Google ScholarPubMed
Hof, P. R., Vogt, B. A., Bouras, C., & Morrison, J. H. (1997). Atypical form of Alzheimer’s disease with prominent posterior cortical atrophy: A review of lesion distribution and circuit disconnection in cortical visual pathways. Vision Research, 37 (24), 3609–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jack, C. R., Jr, Bennett, D. A., Blennow, K., et al. (2018). NIA-AA Research Framework: Toward a biological definition of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia : The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, 14 (4), 535–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jack, C. R., Wiste, H. J., Weigand, S. D., et al. (2014). Age-specific population frequencies of cerebral β-amyloidosis and neurodegeneration among people with normal cognitive function aged 50–89 years: A cross-sectional study. The Lancet Neurology, 13 (10), 997–1005.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, B. D., Bennett, D. A., Boyle, P. A., Leurgans, S., & Schneider, J. A. (2017). Dementia from Alzheimer disease and mixed pathologies in the oldest old. Journal of the American Medical Association, 307 (17), 1798–800.Google Scholar
Johnson, D. K., Storandt, M., Balota, D. A. (2003). Discourse analysis of logical memory recall in normal aging and in dementia of the Alzheimer type. Neuropsychology, 17, 82–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kapasi, A., DeCarli, C., & Schneider, J. A. (2017). Impact of multiple pathologies on the threshold for clinically overt dementia. Acta Neuropathologica, 134 (2), 171–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koedam, E., Lauffer, V., van der Vlies, A., et al. (2010). Early-versus late-onset A;zheimer’s disease: More than age alone. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 19 (4), 1401–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Lukatela, K., Malloy, P., Jenkins, M., & Cohen, R. (1998). The naming deficit in early Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. Neuropsychology, 12 (4), 565–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maccioni, R., Farias, G., Morales, I., & Navarette, L. (2010). The revitalized tau hypothesis on Alzheimer’s disease. Archives of Medical Research, 41 (3), 226–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mackenzie, I. R., Bigio, E. H., Ince, P. G., et al. (2007). Pathological TDP‐43 distinguishes sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with SOD1 mutations. Annals of Neurology:Official Journal of the American Neurological Association and the Child Neurology Society, 61 (5), 427–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McMonagle, P., Deering, F., Berliner, Y., & Kertesz, A. (2006). The cognitive profile of posterior cortical atrophy. Neurology, 66 (3), 331–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, C. R., Hardy, C. J., Volkmer, A., et al. (2018). Primary progressive aphasia: A clinical approach. Journal of Neurology, 265 (6), 1474–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., et al. (1984). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease: Report of the NINCDS-ADRDA Work Group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurology, 34, 939–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKhann, G. M., Knopman, D. S., Chertkow, H., et al. (2011). The diagnosis of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease: Recommendations from the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer’s Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 7 (3), 263–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mendez, M. F., Ghajarania, M., & Perryman, K. M. (2002). Posterior cortical atrophy: Clinical characteristics and differences compared to Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 14 (1), 33–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mesulam, M. M., Wieneke, C., Thompson, C., Rogalski, E., & Weintraub, S. (2012). Quantitative classification of primary progressive aphasia at early and mild impairment stages. Brain, 135 (5), 1537–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, P. T., Dickson, D. W., Trojanowski, J. Q., et al. (2019). Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE): Consensus working group report. Brain, 142 (6), 1503–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, P. T., Head, E., Schmitt, F. A., et al. (2011). Alzheimer’s disease is not ‘brain aging’: neuropathological, genetic, and epidemiological human studies. Acta Neuropathologica, 121 (5), 571–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, P. T., Schmitt, F. A., Lin, Y., et al. (2011). Hippocampal sclerosis in advanced age: Clinical and pathological features. Brain, 134 (5), 1506–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Niu, H., Álvarez-Álvarez, I., Guillén-Grima, F., & Aguinaga-Ontoso, I. (2017). Prevalence and incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in Europe: A meta-analysis. Neurología, 32 (8), 523–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pache, M., Smeets, C. H., Gasio, P. F., et al. (2003). Colour vision deficiencies in Alzheimer’s disease. Age and Ageing, 32 (4), 422–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pao, W. C., Dickson, D. W., Crook, J. E., et al. (2011). Hippocampal sclerosis in the elderly: Genetic and pathologic findings, some mimicking Alzheimer disease clinically. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 25, 364–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, J. L., & Morris, J. C. (1999). Tangles and plaques in nondemented aging and ‘preclinical’ Alzheimer’s disease. Annals of Neurology: Official Journal of the American Neurological Association and The Child Neurology Society, 45 (3), 358–68.3.0.CO;2-X>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rabin, L. A., Paré, N., Saykin, A. J., et al. (2009). Differential memory test sensitivity for diagnosing amnestic mild cognitive impairment and predicting conversion to Alzheimer’s disease. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 16 (3), 357–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rajan, K. B., Weuve, J., Barnes, L. L., Wilson, R. S., & Evans, D. A. (2019). Prevalence and incidence of clinically diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease dementia from 1994 to 2012 in a population study. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, 15 (1), 1–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rajan, K. B., Weuve, J., Barnes, L. L., et al. (2021). Population estimate of people with clinical Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment in the United States (2020–2060). Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, 17 (12), 1966–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rohrer, J. D., Ridgway, G. R., Crutch, S. J., et al. (2010). Progressive logopenic/phonological aphasia: erosion of the language network. Neuroimage, 49 (1), 984–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rossor, M. N., Fox, N. C., Mummery, C. J., Schott, J. M., & Warren, J. D. (2010). The diagnosis of young-onset dementia. The Lancet. Neurology, 9 (8), 793–806.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saunders, A. M., Blennow, K., Breteler, M. M. B. et al. (1993). Association of apolipoprotein E allele ϵ4 with late-onset familial and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology, 43 (8), 1467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sawyer, R. P., Rodriguez-Porcel, F., Hagen, M., Shatz, R., & Espay, A. J. (2017). Diagnosing the frontal variant of Alzheimer’s disease: A clinician’s yellow brick road. Journal of Clinical Movement Disorders, 4, 2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidt, M. (1996). Rey Auditory and Verbal Learning Test: A handbook. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.Google Scholar
Schöll, M., Lockhart, S. N., Schonhaut, D. R., et al. (2016). PET imaging of tau deposition in the aging human brain. Neuron, 89 (5), 971–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schott, J. M., & Crutch, S. J. (2019). Posterior cortical atrophy. Continuum, 25 (1), 52–75.Google ScholarPubMed
Silbert, L. C., Quinn, J. F., Moore, M. M., et al. (2003). Changes in premorbid brain volume predict Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Neurology, 61 (4), 487–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spina, S., La Joie, R., Petersen, C., et al. (2021). Comorbid neuropathological diagnoses in early versus late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Brain: A Journal of Neurology, 144 (7), 2186–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stanley, K., & Walker, Z. (2014). Do patients with young onset Alzheimer’s disease deteriorate faster than those with late onset Alzheimer’s disease? A review of the literature. International Psychogeriatrics, 26 (12), 1945–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reaction. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stute, P., Wienges, J., Koller, A. S., et al. (2021). Cognitive health after menopause: Does menopausal hormone therapy affect it? Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 35 (6), 101565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tang, M. X., Jacobs, D., Stern, Y., et al. (1996). Effect of oestrogen during menopause on risk and age at onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The Lancet, 348 (9025), 429–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tang‐Wai, D. F., Josephs, K. A., Boeve, B. F., et al. (2003). Pathologically confirmed corticobasal degeneration presenting with visuospatial dysfunction. Neurology, 61, 1134–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tom, S. E., Hubbard, R. A., Crane, P. K., et al. (2015). Characterization of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in an older population: Updated incidence and life expectancy with and without dementia. American Journal of Public Health, 105 (2), 408–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tremont, D., Halpert, S., Javorsky, D. J., & Stern, R. A. (2000). Differential impact of executive dysfunction on verbal list learning and story recall. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 14, 295–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van der Flier, W. M., Pijnenburg, Y. A., Fox, N. C., & Scheltens, P. (2011). Early-onset versus late-onset Alzheimer’s disease: The case of the missing APOE ɛ4 allele. The Lancet Neurology, 10 (3), 280–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vellas, B., Carrillo, M. C., Sampaio, C., et al. (2013). Designing drug trials for Alzheimer’s disease: What we have learned from the release of the phase III antibody trials: A report from the EU/US/CTAD Task Force. Alzheimers & Dementia, 9 (4), 438–444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wu, M., Li, M., Yuan, J., et al. (2020). Postmenopausal hormone therapy and Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease: A systematic review and time-response meta-analysis. Pharmacological Research, 155, p.104693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zakzanis, K. K., Leach, L., & Kaplan, E. (1999). Neuropsychological Differential Diagnosis. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Simon Gerhand, Hywel Dda Health Board, NHS Wales
  • Book: The Neuropsychology of Dementia
  • Online publication: 25 October 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009025911.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Simon Gerhand, Hywel Dda Health Board, NHS Wales
  • Book: The Neuropsychology of Dementia
  • Online publication: 25 October 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009025911.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Simon Gerhand, Hywel Dda Health Board, NHS Wales
  • Book: The Neuropsychology of Dementia
  • Online publication: 25 October 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009025911.006
Available formats
×